Premier Doug Ford Directs $350 Million to Expand Ontario Skilled Trades Apprenticeship Strategy

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development David Piccini announced on Monday the distribution of $350 million in capital grants from the Skills Development Fund (SDF) Capital Stream to construct, expand, and equip twenty union training halls and trade academies across Ontario.

The investment aims to train more than 30,000 apprentices annually in electrical, plumbing, carpentry, crane operation, and heavy equipment mechanics to support the province's $190 billion infrastructure and transit buildout over the next decade.

Building the Workforce for Highways, Subways, and Nuclear Plants Ontario is currently constructing the Ontario Line subway, Highway 413, the Bradford Bypass, and expanding the Bruce and Darlington nuclear generating stations, projects that require tens of thousands of certified union tradespeople.

"We are building Ontario—building more subways, highways, hospitals, and nuclear power plants than ever before in our history," Premier Doug Ford said during an announcement at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 353 training center in Toronto. "You cannot build massive infrastructure projects without the best tradespeople in the world. This $350 million investment gives our union partners the modern training facilities they need to train the next generation of electricians, carpenters, and heavy equipment operators for high-paying, lifelong careers."

Regional Union Training Center Allocations Key capital awards under the $350 million package include:

• IBEW Local 353 (Toronto/Oshawa): $35 million for an advanced nuclear electrical and EV charging training campus.
• Carpenters' Regional Council (Vaughan): $30 million for an expanded mass timber and formwork training center.
• Operating Engineers Local 793 (Oakville): $25 million for heavy crane simulation and mobile equipment maintenance labs.
• UA Local 46 Plumbers & Steamfitters (Scarborough): $22 million for advanced orbital welding and medical gas piping training.
• Sixteen additional regional union and indigenous community training centers across Northern and Southwestern Ontario receiving between $10 million and $18 million.

Building trades union leaders commended the provincial funding, noting that modern training simulators prepare young workers to step directly into high-wage infrastructure jobs safely.